Housing Choices - where you choose to live

[poopysheep]

interesting thread...

I live right smack dab in the Beltline on 13Ave and 10st. in a lovely old 1906 house that was completely reno'd in 2000 and now we're redoing our kitchen... I have 2 kids in elementary school and I love it down here... we have no plans of ever moving outside of the core ( or this house really )... I've been in Calgary since 1997 and have only ever lived in the Beltine (rented in Hull Estates and in that small apartment complex on the corner of 8th street and 19avenue)... and honestly can't imagine living outside of this area... I know all my neighbors and there is tons of kids and parks... it's a great place/area to raise a family and I completely agree that whomever is designing and building condo aparments needs to forget about the high end finishings and come up with floor plans that work for families...

I grew up on a farm in Northern Alberta and for me if I'm going to live in the city - it's gotta be IN the city... if I'm going to live in the country then I'll live IN the country... the in between suburbs just wouldn't work for me... to quiet...

that being said we were very lucky when we bought this house that it was way before the housing market went crazy and it's since tripled in value ( which is fine but since I don't plan on selling I hate that my taxes are so high)...

[sync]

Originally Posted by poopysheep

interesting thread...

I completely agree that whomever is designing and building condo aparments needs to forget about the high end finishings and come up with floor plans that work for families...

i really hope this happens as well.

although i do love this place:

click

[Wooster]

Originally Posted by poopysheep

interesting thread...

I live right smack dab in the Beltline on 13Ave and 10st. in a lovely old 1906 house that was completely reno'd in 2000 and now we're redoing our kitchen... I have 2 kids in elementary school and I love it down here... we have no plans of ever moving outside of the core ( or this house really )... I've been in Calgary since 1997 and have only ever lived in the Beltine (rented in Hull Estates and in that small apartment complex on the corner of 8th street and 19avenue)... and honestly can't imagine living outside of this area... I know all my neighbors and there is tons of kids and parks... it's a great place/area to raise a family and I completely agree that whomever is designing and building condo aparments needs to forget about the high end finishings and come up with floor plans that work for families...

I grew up on a farm in Northern Alberta and for me if I'm going to live in the city - it's gotta be IN the city... if I'm going to live in the country then I'll live IN the country... the in between suburbs just wouldn't work for me... to quiet...

that being said we were very lucky when we bought this house that it was way before the housing market went crazy and it's since tripled in value ( which is fine but since I don't plan on selling I hate that my taxes are so high)...

Sounds awesome.

[hulkrogan]

Originally Posted by lubicon

You beat me to it Freeweed! And the time is about equal to driving to boot.

And hulkster, what the hell do you drive that requires filling up 2x week? I drive the same trip (almost) every day with my big bad truck and it's a fill up about every 1 1/2 to 2 weeks for me.

When I used to live up there I took the train all the time. While taking care of their place I'd often have to stop home in Bridgeland and the way up to take care of stuff/grab stuff at my own house, so it was just a convenience thing.

I drive an Audi S4... a very thirsty 4.2L V8. In the winter given the traffic and gas additives, I'm usually around 330km/tank.

I know it's horrible and I'm killing the planet, but it really doesn't leave my garage much as I walk/bike/take transit as my main methods of transportation, so I make up for my reduced commute C02 by having something that is fun to whip around in when I do drive

[Ramsayfarian]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

When I used to live up there I took the train all the time. While taking care of their place I'd often have to stop home in Bridgeland and the way up to take care of stuff/grab stuff at my own house, so it was just a convenience thing.

I drive an Audi S4... a very thirsty 4.2L V8. In the winter given the traffic and gas additives, I'm usually around 330km/tank.

I know it's horrible and I'm killing the planet, but it really doesn't leave my garage much as I walk/bike/take transit as my main methods of transportation, so I make up for my reduced commute C02 by having something that is fun to whip around in when I do drive

You're not killing the planet, you might be making it uninhabitable for humans, but the planet will be here long after we're gone. Besides if you don't have kids and you're not planning on having kids, you've already done your part in saving the environment.

[MichaelS]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I drive an Audi S4... a very thirsty 4.2L V8. In the winter given the traffic and gas additives, I'm usually around 330km/tank.

I know it's horrible and I'm killing the planet, but it really doesn't leave my garage much as I walk/bike/take transit as my main methods of transportation, so I make up for my reduced commute C02 by having something that is fun to whip around in when I do drive

Don't ever apologize for driving such an awesome car!

[poopysheep]

for anyone who says the core isn't for families... i forgot to mention my neighbor across the street has 7 kids and has lived here for almost 25 years... so for all the naysayers about raising kids downtown... <raspberry> LOL

[lubicon]

Originally Posted by poopysheep

for anyone who says the core isn't for families... i forgot to mention my neighbor across the street has 7 kids and has lived here for almost 25 years... so for all the naysayers about raising kids downtown... <raspberry> LOL

Right now the biggest drawback to raising a family DT is lack of housing choices, and high prices.

[mr.steevo]

Hi,

What are the generally accepted boundaries of the "core"?

s.

[fusili]

Originally Posted by mr.steevo

Hi,

What are the generally accepted boundaries of the "core"?

s.

Centre City is usually what people refer to as the core. The boundaries would be 17th Avenue on the South (as well as Stampede Grounds), 14th Street on the West, the Bow River to the North and the Elbow River on the East. Sorry, don't have time to find or make a map.

[poopysheep]

i've gotten alot of lectures over the years about raising my kids downtown... i guess people assumed we would move or something - to where "the kids can ride their bikes and there aren't a bunch of drunks everywhere"... that's my grandparents and extended family talking....

i'd just like to say there aren't "drunks everywhere" down here... i know most of my homeless people by name ( at least the 8 or so that are regulars in my alley)...

[Vascilli]

Kids don't bike these days anyways.

[sync]

http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf

[fusili]

In response:

http://www.cnt.org/repository/Afford...IndexBrief.pdf

and

http://www.nhc.org/pdf/pub_heavy_load_10_06.pdf

Those transportation costs are a bitch.

[sim]

Originally Posted by sync

http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf

Well, Civil Engineering just lost a little bit of credibility after this one. Oh yeah, isn't the U.S number one in per capita energy and resource use, and one of the top per capita emitters...?

[fusili]

Originally Posted by sim

Well, Civil Engineering just lost a little bit of credibility after this one. Oh yeah, isn't the U.S number one in per capita energy and resource use, and one of the top per capita emitters...?

And Manhattan is the lowest in per capita energy and resource use in the US. Correlation? I think so.

[Policy Wonk]

And the least affordable place on earth to exist, living costs extra still.

How is that sustainable?

[fusili]

Originally Posted by Policy Wonk

And the least affordable place on earth to exist, living costs extra still.

How is that sustainable?

In what way? The cost of housing by itself? Or average wages compared to the combined costs of housing and transportation? Or percentage of household income spent on necessities such as housing, transportation, health care and education? Or should we look at the human development index compared to GDP? You need to be clear about what you mean the cost of living. It is much more than how much your house costs.

And if it is the least affordable place on earth to exist, why do millions of people live there? If it is not sustainable, how has it managed to be one of the top, if not the top, places for business in the world for the last 100 years or so? They must be doing something wrong, generating so much economic activity, while keeping energy consumption so low. Tokyo and Hong Kong too, what terribly unsuccessful cities. I'm not sure if you know this, but a high cost of living is a market indication that people want to live there.

Should I also mention that Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx are also low on energy consumption? Those places are much more affordable.

[Ramsayfarian]

Avenue Magazine has a best neighbourhood survey going on. I'm picking Dover.
http://www.avenuecalgary.com/survey

[suburb]

Looks like many of the termite mounds didn't fare very well during the cold snap.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...partments.html